At the Well- Change and Clinging to God

At the Well today the discussion is on change. Much like the author of todays post, I struggle with change that I cannot control. Oh, I like to change my hair, or my furniture. I like to change things for myself, or my family. But...I really hate when change is thrust upon me! However, many times in our Christian walk, God, not only wants change in our lives, but He often demands it. He will often allow circumstances of tremendous change in our lives to grow us, and make us more like Him. Some of the changes are scary ( a new job, a new baby, a new house or church), and some are just very sad (losing a friendship or family member, or moving far away). God doesn't ask these things of us just to make us mad, or frustrate us. He does it because He loves us. He knows that learning to deal with change and trust Him through all of it is one of the most important things for our lives.

Many Christians in other places in the world have to live with continual changes in their lives, because of their faith. They may lose their homes, their jobs, or their family members, simply because they believe something that is not too popular! I often remind myself that we may also be in that situation in America some day and I would contend it is happening in small doses already. If we can't learn to deal with changes in our lives, we may falter when it comes down to standing up for the Lord. If we can't handle change, we may miss out on a tremendous blessing in our lives, because we disobey when He calls us to do something simply because we were afraid.

When I think about change it brings to mind for me..stress! Thinking about stress leads me to think on Psalm 23... The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in paths of righteousness

For His names sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table for me in the presence of mine enemies;

You annoit my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Read it carefully, it is a wonderful reminder that no matter what kind of change God brings into our lives, whether it's good change or bad, it is for a purpose! Everything that God brings into our lives is there to serve His purpose for us. So, if you are experiencing a big change, and it has you scared to death. Read over this Psalm again and remember that God is there, walking with you, and using you for a plan that will last for eternity! As I wrote this Psalm just now, it touched my heart, and reminded me that the big changes that may be surrounding my family are for God's purposes, and that I have nothing to fear in allowing them to happen. I hope this will do the same for you today!

A Little Frustrated

I'm a little frustrated with my blog. For some reason it has been doing some really strange things, and I can't figure out why, or how to fix it. The sidebar is stuck on the bottom instead of on the side where it belongs. I've tried taking out a couple of things to see if they were causing the problems, but to no avail. If anyone has any thoughts on why my blog is doing this, and how I could fix it...I would love to hear about it. My homeschool blog has had no problems, so I'm not sure what is going on with this one! I would like to get back to posting more on it again, but I want to fix it first.

Any ideas would be wonderful!!

I Heart Faces kids- Nostalgia

This week's theme for I <3>

Stop by I Heart Faces to see more nostalgiac pictures.

Blog Awards

A great friend and blogger Laura was sweet enough to award me this award!~ I would love to pass this award on...so here are my picks:

1) Collette at Jesus Loves Mums

2) Megan at Daily Essentials and Deals

3) Brook at Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Now you need to:

1) copy and poste this award on your blog

2) pass it on to as many people as you would like

3) leave the people you choose a message letting them know that you have awarded them.

Thanks again Laura :-)

In His Word Wednesday- Anxious

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing: but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving , let your requests be made known unto God.

I'm working really hard on this today. I admit, as I think about the next few weeks, and even the next few days, I'm feeling very anxious! Pray for me that I can have peace about the circumstances, and not be too overwhelmed! I wrote another post today that gives a better idea of what I am anxious about. You can read that here.

Join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday.

Update on My Dad

Hi everyone. I wanted to give everybody who has been praying for my dad an update. For anyone who doesn't know the situation with dad read here to hear the whole story.

Last week Dad's oncologist told him that the CAT scan that he took showed some shrinking in the cancer, and no spread, so that they were going to proceed to operate again to try to take the cancer out. Well, yesterday I took dad to meet with the surgeon, who had attempted his surgery the first time. What the surgeon said was a bit different than what the oncologist said. He said that he will not attempt to do the surgery again. He said that attempting this surgery a second time, especially after weeks of radiation is extremely complicated. He wants dad to have another endoscopy, to get a better picture of the area, and then he is going to send dad's pictures down to a surgeon in Indianapolis, to see if he will attempt the surgery. He did not sound terribly convinced that it was going to be possible.

So, that is where things stand right now. If dad is going to go to Indy, it will be (hopefully) next week. The oncologist said that for this surgery to be possible, it had to be done within 6 weeks of the end of radiation, which will be next week. Obviously, the surgery being done in Indianapolis, during the time when Rob will be going back to work, and my kids need to start schooling again, is a logistical nightmare for our family. Indianapolis is 3 1/2 hours away from us.

Please pray that Dad will be able to have this surgery in Indy, and that the pieces will fall into place for me to be able to stay down there with him...at least for most of the time. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my dad already!

Please Pray tomorrow!

Hi all. I would appreciate prayers tomorrow as I take my Dad to a doctor's appointment to find out the results of his CAT scan from Monday. This will tell him whether his cancer has spread at all, or if it has shrunk enough that they might be able to remove it this time. I will give an update when I know more!

In His Word Wednesday- Walking in The Spirit

Last night I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. It was around 1:30-2:00 in the morning, before I finally got to sleep. I just had a lot of things on my mind, things of the past and the present.

I find on these nights....God always speaks to me. It's as if He is waiting for it to finally be quiet enough that I will be ready to listen. Anyhow, as I was fretting about things that I cannot change, or fretting about things that I will not be able to change if they happen, I began thinking about my reactions to things that happen in my life. The Bible says that we as Christians are to walk in the Spirit. What exactly does that mean? Well, my interperatation of that is this. Galations 5:22-24, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Walking in the Spirit is something that we are always to do, despite the circumstances. The evidence that we are walking in the Spirit lie in these nine attributes, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God reminded me last night that even when things seem bleak and difficult, I don't have an excuse to walk outside of the Spirit. I don't have the right to be mean to someone, simply because I'm frustrated with the circumstances. I don't have the right to yell at my kids, and be crabby with them, just because I am angry about something that is happening in my life. I still need to exercise joy, and patience, and kindness, gentleness and self-control. It's easy to make excuses, but if we are truly Christians, the call to walk in the Spirit does not change no matter what is going on in our lives. I tend to think too, that it is during these times that these fruits should shine the most. It is these difficulties in life, that help to build these qualities in our lives.

Now, I also recognize that God, in His pure love for us, shows us undying patience and mercy when we fail to walk in the Spirit. He is always working on us, and teaching us. He knows we won't be perfect. He knows that our sinful nature will sometimes get in our way. But....that, my dear friends, does not excuse us. We all know that when the World looks at us...they should be seeing a reflection of Christ. I would add to that also that when our children look at us, they should see a reflection of Christ. Do we walk in the Spirit when we deal with our children, even when we are tired, frustrated, or even angry? God revealed to me last night, that over the course of the last several months, I have not done a very good job of this! I have too often lost my cool, or been impatient, or allowed myself to get angry. Now, by many people's standards, I haven't done anything wrong. I've certainly never been abusive to my kids, or mean to them, or done anything to them that would traumatize them. But, I know, and God knows, that I have not walked in the Spirit with my children the way that I should.

When God was showing me this, and I was repenting...I asked Him.....how can I walk in your Spirit when somedays I just feel overwhelmed, or frustrated, or even angry at life? He showed me the answer, in His Word... Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Just give it all to me, He says. I felt a little foolish, because I've known this verse practically my whole life, but it really is that simple. When I'm feeling angry about the outcome of something...I need to give it to Him. When I'm feeling sad about something...I need to give it to Him. When I want to see justice...give it to Him. He really is big enough to handle it, and then I don't have to bear the burden. And then, when I've given it to Him, and I've thanked Him for all the many blessings He has given me....that is where the peace comes in. This is the peace that guards my heart, and keeps me walking in the Spirit. If you have peace, you are going to be loving, gentle, kind, joyous, peaceful, faithful, and self-controlled. That is why it is so much easier to walk with these fruits of the Spirit during good times in your life, because you are naturally calm and peaceful during times of blessing. But, when the storms blow, and the waves start crashing in.....we need to reach out to Him. This is the same Jesus who spoke and the storm calmed. How can we be anxious when we have Him walking next to us. It's when we don't reach out, that we sink. Much like Peter....to take our eyes off of him, even for a second, will cause us to sink!

As tired as I am today, I'm so grateful that God loved me enough to keep me awake last night so that He could remind me of this!

Join me today in asking God to heal my Dad, and our dear friend Lenore. My dad will find out on Friday what the next step will be for him. Lenore continues to have good days and bad days. She is still in the ICU, and has been there for 5 weeks. Also join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday!

"Training Up a Child" - Family Raising

I wanted to share this for my Child Training Tuesday. I agree totally with what this article has to say about training our children not just to obey, but to do everything with excellence and to the Glory of God! What do you think about this? Have you observed the downfall of this idea in society today? What are some ways that you work on this with your children? Just today I was talking to my boys about doing everything to the Glory of God. It definitely takes training, because our sin nature wants to be lazy, and give up when something gets hard! But..we do our children a disservice when we allow them to quit before a job is done right. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

"Training Up a Child" - Family Raising

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Saturday Steps of Faith- God's love

Join Lisa today for more Saturday Steps of Faith!

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are my life verses. It is always so comforting to realize that no matter what is happening, or what I do, I cannot be seperated from His love. His love has no begining and no end! That is difficult to wrap your brain around when you live in a world where love is so fleeting. I hope that this verse will bring comfort to you today as we walk this sometimes weary road!

Thank you Jesus, that nothing can take your love from me!

Loving Your Husband Friday- Laughter

It's Friday again...and today was the day for loving our husbands. I spent most of my day at the Right to Life Booth at the fair, and so, again, a late post!

But I wanted to be sure to talk today about laughter. I can't tell you how many times laughter has been the medicine to help heal wounds in our home. I can't tell you how often Rob and I have laughed together, and subsequently forgotten what we were upset with each other about. I believe that God gave us laughter to comfort and heal us.... and it is so important to a marriage. We are all going to fall, we are all going to let each other down. Marriage is about committment. You stay with someone even when they are unlovable, because that is what it means to be committed. Sometimes that committment is really hard, when times are hard, and when that spouse lets you down. Our husbands are going to let us down, and we are going to let them down. But, one thing that I know of that can help to heal the hurt in our marriages is laughter! When my children come to us for advice about whom they should marry, one of the first questions Rob and I would ask them about that person (other than the obvious, are they a believer, do they have the same goals), would be if you can laugh together! If you can't laugh together, and have fun together, you will be hard pressed to make it through the hard times together!

Now, obviously, a good laugh cannot undo all the pain and hurt of your spouse hurting you or letting you down, but it's a good start. If your marriage is hurting, find something to laugh about! Think about the good times you had in the past....reminisce. What did you laugh about when times were good? Spend some time thinking about those times. It might just help you start to heal and move on! I can't tell you how many arguments that Rob and I were so serious about, were forgotten simply because something else made us laugh!

This is one thing that I love about my husband, that I can still laugh with him, even in the hard times!

I hoped you joined Shannon today for more Loving your Hubby Fridays.

In His Word Wednesday- Persecution

I apologize for my post being so late today...it has been a busy day!

Matthew 5: 11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In the course of the last several months, I have often thought of these verses. We have personally experienced this in our family. We were insulted, persecuted, and had many false, evil things said about us, because we chose to do what we believe is right and biblical for our children. Not to get into too many details, but we were humiliated, and we even lost a (foster) child through this whole process. It has been very painful for our whole family! It has often been dificult to rejoice in this circumstance, but I know that is what Christ tells us to do! I so often think of those believers in other places in the world, who are daily persecuted and even have their children killed because of their faith! Here in America, we have no concept of what that is really like, but Christ rejoices with these dear believers who keep plugging away, never denying Him. It's just not always easy to stand up for what we know is right, and to claim Christ, and it can sometimes mean tremendous pain and loss, but we can rejoice. I pray that I will always have the courage to stand up for the name of Christ, no matter what kind of suffering I may have to endure because of it!

Please continue to pray today for our dear friend Lenore, as she is still fighting infection. She does seem to be showing improvement, but still needs lots of prayer, as does the family, who has been riding this roller coaster of emotion for over a month now!

Pray for my dad also that he will be healed of his pancreatic cancer!

Join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday!

Saturday Steps of Faith- From the East to the West

Today I join Lisa for Saturday Steps of Faith. The idea is to focus on the promises of God in our lives.

This morning as I was working on folding my laundry and listening to some music, I was thinking about Psalm 103:11-12 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

This is a stunning picture to me of what the sacrifice of my Jesus has done for me. How the sins that I have committed, which are a stench in the nostrils of our Holy God, can be thrown so far from us, that God no longer sees them. It's a concept that our finite minds cannot even fathom. That's how great His mercy towards us is! I love the way that Casting Crowns puts this in their song.

Jesus can you show me just how far the east is from the west?, cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again. In the arms of your mercy I find rest, cause you know just how far the east is from the west........From one scarred hand to the other!!

There is another part that says that in the arms of your mercy I find rest...because you know just how far the east is from the west....from one scarred hand to the other.

What an awesome thought! Once we have repented of our sins, and accepted the sacrifice that Christ made for us....our sins are cast away, as far as the east is from the west! It is only through the scarred hands of Christ that we can fathom that! We can rest in his mercy, without fear that He will keep bringing up those sins, that is the Satan's job. It is Satan that wants to continue reminding us of our sins. He is the deceiver. He doesn't want us to remember that God has thrown our sins away! I don't know about you, but I don't want Satan to have his way. I want to rest in the knowledge today that my sins have been thrown as far as the east is from the west!

If you are reading this and you don't know how to have your sins thrown away. If you aren't sure how to obtain this mercy and peace.....I would love to share more with you about our savior and what He has done for me.....and what He will do for you dear one! My email is rebabler@comcast.net, if you want to discuss it privately!

Rest in His promise today!

Family Vision

On Monday for At the Well....there was discussion about Family Visions. Although at the time I didn't have time to put down what our family visions are.. I wanted to come back and take the time to do that. If you missed the original post, it was here. Here is a statement page that we have developed that contains the vision for our family.

Family Mission

To Serve Him

Bible

Prayer

Loving each other (kind, edifying, treating each other as most importatntly)

Loving others (volunteering, ministering, evangelizing)

Educated (knowledgable and critical)

Exhibiting Christian conduct In life

Study and meditate on the Word of God daily, both individually, and corporately.

Educate our children in the ways of God and in

The Mission of the Babler family is as follows:

1) Authority:

Love God with all our heart

Prayer and Bible study

Live within the Biblical structure of the family

2) Relationships:

Love one another

Serve one another

Encourage one another

Serve others

3) Possessions:

Thankful

Content

Generous

Responsible

4) Work:

Diligent

Take initiative

Cooperative

Take responsibility

5) Attitudes

Humble – thinking of others before ourselves (actions – even what we wear,

Joyful

Peaceable

Patient

Gracious

6) Choices

Do right

Ask before acting

Exercise self-control

Tell the truth

Again, I highly recommend sitting down together and thinking about what your goals and "visions" are for your family. This will help you when you have even minor decisions to make about your family. Does it fit into your plan for your family, or will it detract? Will it help to facilitate your vision, or bring you farther away from it. I've always liked the saying..."if you aim at nothing, your bound to hit it." In these days, we need to be clear about what we seek to accomplish for God with our families. We cannot afford to aim at nothing! I hope this will somehow help someone pin down what their family vision is.